


Let Me Protect You

by Suzurin



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 4
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Pining, Post-Second Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22103935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzurin/pseuds/Suzurin
Summary: Her hands still recall how they shook as she prayed atop that tower, the violent winds howling through her bones. The bridges of her childhood were calling for her, singing for her to curl up on them and hug her knees as they swayed gently, gently, gently enough for her to forget the pain of not being with her mama like it had done for so many moons. But she bit her lip and planted her feet and prayed even harder, because although she could not be there in the sky protecting Frey, although this tower was as high as she could get and her prayers the only defense, she would not run away.It should have been a comfort to see her mama there too, doing the exact same thing. To know they had both reached the same limit, the same level.But it wasn’t. Because Xiao Pai wants more.----------------------------------------------------Written as a gift for the Rune Factory 2019 Holiday Exchange.
Relationships: Frey/Xiao Pai (Rune Factory)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Let Me Protect You

The inn’s door bursts open with a wintry blast, yet Xiao Pai’s heart swells with warmth when she sees who’s behind it.

“Frey! Welcome!” She runs up excitedly to her friend, but halts when she gets closer. “You… are here for a bath, yes?”

Frey is caked in mud from the waist down, almost as if she fell into some sort of mud sinkhole and dragged herself out by her arms alone. Her outfit, which Xiao Pai sadly realizes will have to be thrown away, is in tatters, revealing scratches all over her skin that have long since been healed by recovery potions; her hair is matted to her side and is only vaguely still tied up, either as a result of exertion or the increasing wind speeds outside; but nothing beats the sheer exhaustion carved into her face, only emphasized by the tired quirk of her lips she tries that looks more cringe than smile.

“A bath is just what the doctor ordered...” Frey pauses, sighing dramatically. “Literally in this case, I’m afraid. Nancy was very insistent.” One of her eyes cracks open to peek at Xiao Pai, who obliges her with a giggle.

“But it seems you will have to get rid of that outfit. You brought a change of clothes, yes?”

Frey shakes her head, sighing. “I asked Vishnal to bring me some new clothes, but…” She glances out the window, a look of chagrin crossing her face. “Looks like that might take a while.”

Xiao Pai looks as well, just in time to see the first few snowflakes hit the ground. It’s the first snow of the season and it’s quickly ramping up to be the first blizzard, too. This feels like a textbook example of her bad luck in action, and she almost feels as though she should apologize to Frey.

Instead, her exhausted friend just shrugs. “Oh well. He could use a break too, frankly… Today was a long and frustrating adventure.”

Those words squeeze Xiao Pai’s heart oddly, which she attempts to hide with a broad smile. “Now, now!” She claps her hands together for emphasis, turning to the shelves to rummage around. “It seems there will be time later for adventuring stories. For now, it is best to go take a long bath.” Grabbing a soft bundle of clothing, she turns back around, still smiling too cheerfully. “You will borrow one of our inn’s robes for now, yes?”

Frey falters, taken aback by the sudden business-like tone. Her brow furrows as she attempts to read the other’s expression, a tense silence overtaking the both of them.

The smile on Xiao Pai’s face feels more and more like a grimace with each passing moment, but she does not back down.

Eventually, the siren song of a warm bath and clean clothes wins out, and Frey hesitantly accepts the proffered bundle. She opens her mouth to say something, but the inn’s doors burst open with people taking refuge from the worsening conditions, and Xiao Pai runs off to deal with them. By the time she turns back around, Frey is long gone. She tries to ignore both the relief and sadness that settle in her stomach, instead focusing on the customer’s orders.

Despite how hard she tries, however, her thoughts inevitably stray back to her amnesiac friend. Xiao Pai still remembers the day Frey literally fell out of the sky… because that was the day she felt everything would change.

When this green-haired stranger ran around town, introducing herself as somehow impossibly alive but lacking memories, Xiao Pai heard her father’s voice echoing in her head: _“Everything is connected.”_

By nothing more than instinct, she felt that this person was the missing connection come to set things right, because Selphia had been a wide, stagnant ocean for far too long. And Frey, a fallen ray of sunshine, appeared and changed everything: she turned monsters into people, unravelled centuries-old secrets, and revived a dying land—all for the sake of a friend. It was unthinkable that this land’s people wouldn’t fall head-over-heels for its makeshift princess.

And that included Xiao Pai.

_But…_

She twists an old rag in her hands, staring blankly at the watery mess she’s made that needs cleaning. The conversation from earlier still swirls in her head, the knowledge that Vishnal accompanied Frey wrapping thorns around her heart.

When had Frey stopped asking her on adventures? Was she too useless? Had she tripped one too many times? They went everywhere together, did _everything_ together, fought back-to-back with the assurance that they were there for each other, no matter how bleak things felt. She was there when Frey first explored Yokmir Forest, for goodness’ sake. They were inseparable. Until…

Her breath hitches in her throat.

Until Frey went to Leon Karnak.

Frey decided to go alone. There was only one chance at getting it right and she wasn’t willing to put anyone else at risk, least of all the people she cared so deeply about. And though Xiao Pai had wanted to argue, in that moment, she was stunned into silence—because Frey looked every bit the royal princess they all pretended she was.

But Xiao Pai wishes she had argued. Never before has she felt such fear, such despair, as when that fox-eared stranger appeared, alone. She doesn’t remember much from that time, only flashes of bewilderment and panic, until Ventuswill took to the skies, her powerful wings stirring up gales in her wake. And when they returned, Frey wrapped around Ventuswill’s neck and waving joyfully, a carefree smile on her face—Xiao Pai learned at that moment that it was possible to want to simultaneously shake and kiss someone.

After that, Frey stopped asking her on adventures.

They still spent time together—naturally, since Xiao Pai works at the town’s only bathhouse—and occasionally they would eat at Porcoline’s restaurant, but things weren’t the same, and she could feel her friend growing distant.

Before she could finally get the courage to confront her, the Sechs Empire attacked.

Her hands still recall how they shook as she prayed atop that tower, the violent winds howling through her bones. The bridges of her childhood were calling for her, singing for her to curl up on them and hug her knees as they swayed gently, gently, gently enough for her to forget the pain of not being with her mama like it had done for so many moons. But she bit her lip and planted her feet and _prayed even harder_ , because although she could not be there in the sky protecting Frey, although this tower was as high as she could get and her prayers the only defense, she _would not run away_.

It should have been a comfort to see her mama there too, doing the exact same thing. To know they had both reached the same limit, the same level.

But it wasn’t. Because Xiao Pai wants _more_.

A familiar voice pulls her out of the cold water of her memories. “Wow, I’m feeling alive again! Thanks again for the robe. It’s so soft!”

Xiao Pai forces a chuckle and turns. “No prob—”

Her thoughts grind to a halt because Frey’s hair isn’t up in its usual twintails; it’s instead cascading gracefully down her back, a few damp locks clinging to her neck, and she is a heavenly sight. Their eyes meet and it feels too much like this living goddess can read minds, so Xiao Pai hurriedly grabs a broom and begins sweeping up the snow tracked in earlier by the entrance. It’s melted and making an absolute muddy mess, but even dealing with her everyday misfortune is a sigh of relief.

The floorboards creak behind her and she doesn’t have to wonder why when a flash of green appears in front of her.

Frey stands there, arms crossed and brow furrowed, her mouth set in a hard, sad line. “Can we talk?”

Her heart still pounding for a myriad of reasons, Xiao Pai turns away slightly, afraid of what expression she might be displaying. “About what?”

“You’re avoiding me.”

Perhaps as a result of hanging around Leon for too long, a cynical smile twists Xiao Pai’s lips, her nervousness now forgotten. “That is a funny thing to say when you are the one who is avoiding me,” she says, her tone too even and clipped.

Frey’s brow furrows further, her confusion completely on display. Keeping her emotions under wraps has never been one of her strong suits, so why does it feel like it’s been so long since Xiao Pai has last seen this vulnerability? “Wha—”

“I have done something, yes? I am not reliable, yes? This is why you do not want me around anymore, yes?” The questions spill from her mouth one after the other, her accent feeling like it’s only growing embarrassingly heavier. Her hands tighten around the broom and she wishes for the millionth time that she could be more like her mama. Mama would be able to resolve this, to get her feelings across easily… of course, Mama wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. “It seems I have lost your trust.”

Her friend takes a sudden step forward, hands hanging in the air for an unknown purpose, perhaps to comfort, as she says, “What— Xiao, no, that’s not—”

The broom clatters to the floor as Xiao Pai clutches at her own chest, her expression one of pleading determination. “I will do better, Frey. I will become stronger, more dependable, more responsible. I—” Her voice catches in her throat as the look in Frey’s eyes after Ventuswill disappeared flashes through her mind, the hollowness in those mint eyes cutting open its own space in her heart. Never again. They will never live those hopeless days ever again. “I want to protect you, Frey. Please do not shut me out.”

The air weighs heavy with that declaration, a stunned silence falling over the two. For a moment, all that can be heard are the distant chatter of the customers upstairs and the whistle of the wind outside.

Frey’s hands lower slowly, inch by inch, as her unreadable mint eyes search Xiao Pai’s face. Eventually… she sighs, a troubled smile settling on her lips. “I’m becoming more and more like Venti everyday, aren’t I…”

A silver-haired head tips to one side in confusion. “Huh?”

“I’m so sorry, Xiao.” Frey steps forward, placing both of her hands on Xiao Pai’s shoulders. “I never meant to make you feel this way. I… well, I want to protect you too. More than anyone.”

Xiao Pai’s head spins with this admission, a series of increasingly dangerous _what ifs_ racing through her brain, even as the warmth of the hands on her shoulders sets her heart ablaze. It all almost keeps her from hearing Frey continue.

“Everywhere I’ve been going recently—Maya Road, Rune Prana, you name it—it’s all so dangerous. I didn’t want to risk you. I can’t,” her voice cracks and her eyes are shining but she presses on, “I _can’t_ lose someone so precious to me. Not again. The only reason Vishnal was with me today is because he chased after me into combat. I don’t think he understands what butlers actually are.”

They both laugh at that, awkward and hesitant, but it’s a start. Frey releases her friend and intertwines her hands behind her back, her gaze warm and smile honeyed. “But I was wrong. I should know better than most what it’s like to be left behind by a friend. So… I’m sorry. Please stay by my side.”

Like a magic spell, those words weave their way through Xiao Pai’s heart, tattooing themselves over the old scars, insecurities, and fears. A smile full of light blooms across her lips as she nods, vigorously, saying, “Yes… Yes, of course I will. Please stay by my side as well.”

Frey’s smile only grows. “There’s no place I’d rather be.” She pauses, the troubled look returning to her expression. “It’d be nice to get some help in making it through Rune Prana, anyways… I’m stuck again.”

“It seems to be a very difficult dungeon. I have seen you around town less and less these days.”

A large sigh escapes her lips. “Yeah… I made zero progress today _and_ ruined my outfit. It was a pretty meaningless outing…”

Xiao Pai shakes her head and, in a voice that isn’t solely her own, says, “Nothing is meaningless. Nothing.” She goes to say something else, but the words die on her tongue as her gaze meets Frey’s.

Something in her eyes is captivating, yet terrifying—like everything will change if Xiao Pai lets herself be sucked in. She doesn’t know how—she knows how she _hopes_ , but she can’t keep letting herself get carried away when she’s known the scoreboard for so long—but they just got things between them back to normal, and she just committed herself to staying by Frey’s side no matter what. So Xiao Pai caves first and breaks away, looking out the window beside them instead.

Frost slowly creeps up the window pane. Frey’s warm breath puffs against the cool glass, and Xiao Pai’s eyes can’t help but follow the small beads of water that streak down the glass. In that moment, the peace that falls between them is so thick and fragile that she feels like she’s choking.

A hand brushes against her own and her heart stutters. It was probably an accident, judging by the surprised apology she receives, but she can’t help but notice that lovely mint gaze lingering on her longer than necessary. Or is that just her wishful thinking?

“It seems the snow will not stop for a while,” Xiao Pai whispers, and it feels like her voice is deafeningly loud. 

“It seems so,” Frey whispers back. Her green hair slips past her shoulder and brushes against Xiao Pai’s arm and, okay, this is not her imagination, Frey is definitely a lot closer now, and seems to be leaning closer still. Or maybe it’s the other way around, but Xiao Pai’s not entirely sure, because the scent of the bath’s lemongrass soap mixed with Frey’s scent is absolutely enticing, but too much, and Xiao Pai can still feel the ghost of her touch, but this, whatever this is, it’s too—she can’t—

“It is the perfect weather for cocoa, yes?”

Frey blinks and laughs, abrupt and startled, and Xiao Pai’s cheeks flush at the bell-like sound. She tries to ignore that her voice cracked, that her heart is pounding a million beats a minute, and that her little demons are berating her for being a coward. Because Frey instead smiles, saying, “You’re absolutely right,” and offers her hand, which Xiao Pai eagerly takes. They head to the kitchen together, all smiles and flushed cheeks and excited chatter.

And it ends up a disaster because almost immediately, Xiao Pai trips, dousing herself in chocolate powder while simultaneously covering every kitchen surface with a thin brown layer. But when Frey crouches and scoops up a handful of powder, smearing it all over her own face and showing a blinding smile, Xiao Pai cracks a tender one of her own at the sight, and she can’t help but think that it’s a little perfect after all.

**Author's Note:**

> In other news, Xiao Pai is now my favorite RF4 bachelorette, and I can't wait for RF4S to come out.


End file.
